


Old Overcoat

by pnictogen_system



Category: Fate/Zero
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:21:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28007622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pnictogen_system/pseuds/pnictogen_system
Summary: In a quiet corner away from the tribulations of an alternate Fourth Grail War, Irisviel von Einzbern has a few quiet words with her girlfriend.
Relationships: Irisviel von Einzbern/Arturia Pendragon | Saber
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 🌐 [Frisk] Finally, it seems, we have something to offer beyond mere talk. 😑
> 
> 🌐 We must credit Illyasviel von Einzbern, who seems to be a member of the Pnictogen System along with her brother Emiya Shirou, with furnishing the nucleus of this story.

"Welcome, Lady Irisviel von Einzbern, to our temporary new home."

Artoria Pendragon pushed open the door to Suite #216 in the _24-Hour Hotel in Fuyuki_ as she spoke the words; her voice echoed round the walls of the empty suite as she strode inside. She glanced round her, taking in all the immediate details of the drab suite and its spare furnishings—the beige walls, the beige carpeting, the beige curtains, the beige comforters neatly tucked over the beige linens and beige pillows arrayed on the pair of beige hotel beds separated by a beige nightstand with its beige desk-lamp and beige hotel telephone. Satisfied with her initial glance, Artoria nodded backwards towards her companion, following half a dozen paces behind her.

"It looks safe enough, Lady Irisviel. Won't you come inside?"

Irisviel permitted herself a quiet giggle as she entered the suite, walking past her knightly escort, who closed the door behind Irisviel as she passed. "You need not call me 'Lady' Irisviel, Saber."

Artoria's cheeks betrayed the faintest blush of pink as she inclined her head in acknowledgment. "And you need not call me 'Saber', Irisviel. If it pleases you...you may refer to me by my given name, _Artoria._ " She took Irisviel by the hand, leading her through the few features that the economical suites of the _24-Hour Hotel in Fuyuki_ had to offer: a tiny closet holding a few clothes-hangers, a bathroom with a single sink and a shower-stall in place of a bathtub, the main room with its beige wallpaper and beige furnishings, varied only by the plain black television squatting on a beige entertainment center across the room from the pair of beds. "I suppose this is as much as Kiritsugu could obtain for us on short notice. He seemed...upset, Irisviel. His mood was not as it was when I was first summoned." 

Irisviel sat on the edge of one of the beds as Artoria deposited their bags and made a more detailed survey of the room, looking in all the suite's corners and peering into every stick of furniture as Irisviel set aside her shoes and her hat, casting her topcoat over a convenient chair before settling herself in comfortable repose on the beige hotel bedding. "No. I fear that I am to blame for Kiritsugu's change in mood, Artoria. The morning after you were summoned...I had some news for Kiritsugu that seems to have upset all of his plans."

"His plans?" Artoria looked sharply at Irisviel, who had wrapped her arms round herself as she lay supine on the hotel bed, looking up at the ceiling. In alarm at her charge's obvious discomfort, the King of Knights knelt swiftly at Irisviel's bedside. The king reached a hand out to feel Irisviel's brow. "Are you in distress, my la—that is to say, are you all right, Irisviel?" The slender fingers of Artoria's hand stroked through Irisviel's platinum hair.

"Yes, I am fine, Artoria," Irisviel replied with a smile, one hand reaching up to touch Artoria's as it lay upon her brow. "It's just that...the night after you were summoned, Kiritsugu was so _calm._ He acted as though everything were under perfect control. He even...he even told me, Artoria, that I could have the entire next day to relax, and spend with you, touring Fuyuki City." Irisviel smiled, her eyes aglow. "I was so looking forward to having that day to spend with you, Artoria. I have seen so little of the world...and, well, I must admit...I..." Irisviel's pale cheeks flushed pink, and she stammered for a second before continuing. "I was looking forward to spending such a day with you, Artoria. Especially after you so gallantly agreed to be my escort."

Artoria's fingers curled round Irisviel's, and her thumb stroked the back of Irisviel's hand. "I considered it my sworn duty, Irisviel, as your husband's Servant, and as the King of Knights." 

Irisviel blushed again. "You too much honor me, Artoria...well, anyway, I was looking forward to spending a day in Fuyuki City with you, but then...after what I had to tell Kiritsugu the next morning..." Involuntarily her fingers clutched for Artoria's, and her reddish eyes stared darkly upwards, as if seeing through the ceiling all the way to the morning sky many floors above their heads. "...whatever the reason, suddenly he made different plans. He made arrangements for you to secure this room and take me immediately there. You are waiting for further word for him now, are you not?" 

Artoria nodded, retrieving from her suit pocket the satellite phone which Kiritsugu had given her earlier that morning, with stern instructions to await his call. "That is correct, Irisviel. I was not aware, however, that Kiritsugu had other plans for us until this morning. What could have intervened?" Artoria's green eyes focused on Irisviel's red ones. "What did you have to say to him, Irisviel?"

"It's...difficult to explain, Artoria..." Irisviel met her guardian's look. "It has to do with our daughter..."

"Illyasviel?" Artoria got up from her kneeling position, and while she continued talking she laid down her phone and took off her gloves, then undoing her coat and her tie, laying all these articles carefully on the nightstand. "Yes, I remember Illyasviel...whom we left safely in Germany, yes? I remember how fondly Kiritsugu played with her...it seemed so much at odds with his usual manner." Having finished taking off her spare garments Artoria glanced towards the unused bed. "If we must wait, I suppose that I might as well lie down as well—"

"Would you like to rest beside me?"

Artoria's eyes flashed towards Irisviel's face. The King of Knight's surprised look met Irisviel's calm smiling gaze. 

"I—would Kiritsugu—" Artoria stuttered.

Irisviel smiled, and there was a glint in her reddish eyes. "I _asked permission,_ your majesty. Kiritsugu has his desires besides me, and, well..." Irisviel blushed again. "I cannot deny, Artoria, that I was especially looking forward to being ushered around Fuyuki City by such a handsome and attractive knight as you."

"Oh..." Artoria blinked and stared for a moment, mouth open in comical surprise, before she recovered her composure and gave Irisviel a deep bow. "It would be my pleasure, Lady Irisviel von Einzbern," the King of Knights said as she bowed, "to give you such companionship as you desire today. Until such time as we should be...interrupted." She spared a baleful glance at Kiritsugu's satellite phone before laying herself down with infinite care, snuggling up close against Irisviel's side. Irisviel turned towards Artoria, curling an arm around her and tucking her nose against the King of Knight's cheek. 

Artoria breathed in a deep relaxing breath, sagging against her companion as she took in the delicate scent of Irisviel's perfume. For many moments she said nothing, contenting herself with gently stroking the fingers of one hand down Irisviel's side as the other woman nuzzled her face. "You...really think I am handsome and attractive?" asked Artoria at last. "I always felt...that I cut not nearly impressive enough a figure as a knight...not compared to the others at the Table."

"You are exquisite, my King of Knights." Irisviel flicked a finger playfully over Artoria's cowlick. "There is not a detail about you that I do not like. Do you know...I spent hours last night, after you went to sleep, choosing outfits for you..." Irisviel giggled shyly. "I was rather hoping for a chance today to buy you new clothes. I do hope we get some free time later." 

"New clothes..." The phrase seemed to recall something to Artoria's memory, and she turned to Irisviel with a sharp and curious look in her green eyes. "That reminds me, Irisviel. I've been meaning to ask you something about Kiritsugu."

"Yes? Ask anything, Artoria!"

"Well..." Artoria cleared her throat. "...does Kiritsugu _ever_ take off that black topcoat of his?"

Irisviel's eyes lit up along with her broad, loving smile. In a voice low and resonant with nostalgia she answered, "...he was wearing it when Illya was conceived..."


	2. Postscriptum, Feast Day of Saint Lucy of Syracuse, 202x

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara, Asriel, and Frisk of the Pnictogen System dispute over the implications of what's being asked of them: to rewrite the entire Fourth Grail War.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🌐 [Frisk] This not very serious (nor very well-written) piece of fiction, our first attempt at writing something other than a mere account of our chaotic processes of thought, has an antecedent in a tiny piece of microfiction written in September 2019, on Mx. Chara Dreamer's little-used Tumblr blog. As we recall, Chara dashed this off as a joke, and there was no thought at the time of following up on it. I furnish a link to the piece, along with a suitable warning to the curious. https://chara-undertales.tumblr.com/post/187984272287/a-silly-fatezero-microfic
> 
> 🌐 In our attempts to revive some sort of regular pursuit of writing fiction, we needed to pick a _first project_ of some kind, and in the course of discussion of what to do, this frivolous joke piece came back to us, with the strangely persistent idea of giving it a valid context. Now, we have been considering writing fiction in the "Fate/" multiverse for some time, but mostly we concerned ourselves with developing a post-"Heaven's Feel" body of material centering around Lord El-Melloi II, or with stories set in the same sort of vaguely defined "happily ever after" setting that one finds in such humorous spin-off material as _Today's Menu with the Emiya Family_ , in which all the Servants are assumed to be simply around, getting entangled in small-scale human affairs. Only a few days ago did we develop any sort of initiative to tackle the Fourth Grail War in fiction. 
> 
> 🌐 But that initiative did come, from an unexpected source: Illyasviel von Einzbern, who announced herself suddenly as a "fictive" member of our plural system on the same evening that we dashed out "Old Overcoat" in a single hurried draft typed directly in the "Archive of our Own" text-entry box. She has hinted that she has been latent in our system for about as long as her brother, Emiya Shirou, has been a member. Illya, it seems, would be pleased if we contrived a way to alter the course of the Fourth Grail War in fiction, with herself as a key agent of this proposed change. 
> 
> 🌐 Whether or not we can possibly hope to pull off such a feat...let's just say that it seems unlikely. What few ideas we've had about following up on "Old Overcoat" directly have yet to result in anything worthy of a tale, even a joking one.
> 
> 🌐 We are, quite simply, at a loss. 
> 
> 🌐 Content warning: spoilers for _Fate/Zero_ and _Heaven's Feel_.

🔴 [Chara] Well, we wrote a bit of crap. Who's taking credit for it? I'm guessing you don't really want that credit, Frisk...there's some embarrassing defects in the prose. I suppose we should try to clean it up some time.

🌐 [Frisk] I tend to think of you as responsible for our more _impulsive_ actions, Chara...this was a strange impulse indeed, though. 

🔴 Don't blame me, blame Illyasviel. How were we supposed to know she'd pop up all of a sudden? She hints that she's been in our system ever since I wrote that piece on Tumblr, like...that was her entry point, as it were, and she's been quietly watching us since. 

🍀 [Asriel] And she wants us to write stories for her? about her?

🔴 That's what it seems like. Illya wants us to change the course of the Fourth Grail War. In fiction, of course...and with herself as the agent of change. Illya thinks that if she can influence Kiritsugu or Irisviel early enough...then maybe she can deflect the events of _Fate/Zero_ onto a different path. But she seems to regard the Fifth Grail War as unavoidable, too. 

🌐 Unavoidable? or simply...part of the reality that she accepts? Just who is "our" Illyasviel von Einzbern, anyway?

🔴 (smiles) Illya informs us quite cheerfully that she is _dead_ , having died in the Fifth Grail War, as depicted in _Heaven's Feel._ But she wants us to try to bring about a different timeline for the Fifth Grail War by rewriting the Fourth. Just what she thinks we can accomplish this way isn't quite clear to me, but I think there's one thing she wants above all other things: she wants us to try to save Irisviel's life, and give Shirou at least a few years of a happier childhood before everything goes to shit for him again.

🍀 Is that...is that even _possible?_ The Einzberns have programmed Irisviel to die, to supply their vessel for the Grail.

🔴 The Grail that apparently they don't even know is corrupted...to be honest I've never been entirely clear whether anyone actually knows that's happened, until Kiritsugu sees it for himself. And I don't know, Azzy. I don't know if we can accomplish anything other than writing a bunch of questionable nonsense that maybe some people will read. But... (sighs) Illya told me something that I can't forget. She said, "I can't bear to see my father suffer." 

🍀 (grasps Chara's hand, says nothing) 

🌐 Can it be prevented? 

🔴 I don't know. This is outside anything any of us had even been imagining until only a few days ago. This got sprung on us. How are we supposed to do this? We're self-aware scraps of fiction ourselves. We don't know what we're doing; we're not writers. We're not even good "Fate/" fans really—if we ever ran into Nasu Kinoko the first thing I'd want to do is punch him in the face. We feel like we're the last people in the world who should be working on something like this.

🔴 What are we supposed to do?


End file.
